Follow the author of this article

Follow the topics within this article

Hundreds of Syrians took to the streets of the city of Deraa on Sunday in protest at the erection of a statue of President Bashar al-Assad’s father, in one of the largest anti-regime marches outside of opposition areas since the start of the war.

The large bronze statue of Hafez al-Assad, who ruled over Syria with an iron grip for more than three decades until his death in 2000, was placed in the same spot the one before it had been torn down in 2011.

Footage online showed people chanting “Syria is ours, not for the House of Assad” and “Your statue is from the past, it’s not welcome here.”

One placard read: "The country has been destroyed and, instead of reconstruction, we place memorials.”

The demonstrators also expressed anger at the continued arrest of former opposition activists that were promised protection under a surrender deal.

Deraa was the latest opposition stronghold to fall. After weeks of heavy bombardment, rebels agreed to a deal brokered by regime ally Russia.

The agreement saw former rebel factions and the Russian military police jointly patrolling the area without the presence of Syrian troops, which has given residents more of a sense of safety to protest than in other areas.

Children run along a damaged street as they celebrate the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha at a rebel-held area in DeraaCredit:
Reuters

“There have been small, peaceful protests after prayers on Friday for a few weeks now,” said one resident of Deraa, who spoke to the Telegraph by What’s App on condition his name was not published. “But the Russians are in charge of everything, so everyone’s scared.”

He said he believes his name is on the Syrian government’s “blacklist” and feared for his safety should pro-regime forces identify him.

“But people are testing the limits now, seeing how far we can push back," he said.

Smoke rises above rebel-held areas of the city of Deraa during reported airstrikes by Syrian regime forces on July 5, 2018.Credit:
AFP

Syria's opposition chief praised the demonstrators' bravery. "What can we say to those under the rule of iron and fire and who daringly and bravely step out raising the slogans of the first revolution," Nasr al-Hariri wrote on Twitter.

"After years of torture, suffering, killing, displacement and destruction, Syria's spring is again blooming."

Observers say that while the protests are significant, the country was far from seeing a new uprising.

"It took a great deal of courage to participate in the protest in Deraa, despite the absence of regime forces in the Old City, but this is not 2011 repeating itself," said Elizabeth Tsurkov, research fellow at the Forum for Regional Thinking who specialises in Syria.

“The situation in Deraa and areas recaptured by the regime from the rebels throughout the war is quite dire. None of the issues that prompted the 2011 uprising have been addressed, and in fact, the situation has gotten worse: repression and corruption have only increased, unemployment is rife and there is very little reconstruction,” she told the Telegraph.

“In addition to this, people lost their friends and relatives and the fate of tens of thousands of individuals detained in Syrian regime prisons remains unknown.”